Obamacare: Giving employee a raise will lower her subsidy

I am on a board for a small non-profit. The part-time office manager has told me that she is barely able to afford her health insurance, even with the Obamacare subsidies, and her plan has a $10,000 deductible. I feel bad about this. If we gave her a raise, she could better afford her monthly cost. Could we also do something to help her with that high deductible?

Trying to Help in Maine

Dear Trying to Help,

Your heart is in the right place, but giving her a raise actually won’t help her. Her subsidies are based upon her income. If her income goes up, her subsidy goes down. However, there is something you can do to help her.

It sounds like the office manager has the wrong plan for her situation, or she may not understand how her deductible works. Her deductible can also be subsidized, based upon her family income. Someone may not have explained that to her. Or worse, she didn’t apply for that subsidy.